Will Ukraine (Mariupol) become the Stalingrad for the partnership of Putin and Xi? Only recently, at the Olympic Games, the two autocrats publicly demonstrated their partnership with gusto. US-intelligence however is warning the Russian army might use chemical weapons soon, als the fight across Ukraine remains a stalemate. Putin's (and Xi's) options are getting smaller and smaller. Will Putin now do something even crazier than before? And will Xi just stand by, continue to do nothing, even if Putin really does use chemical weapons?
Interesting to see if one day we find out whether Xi believed as Putin did that an invasion of Ukraine would be an easy blitzkrieg, or whether Putin had kept Xi in the dark about the extent of his war plans. Their Hitler-Stalin pact could soon start to show serious cracks. Will China take the risky step of showing itself before the world as a compliant arms supplier for a brutal lebensraum war?
Meanwhile Navalny was sentenced today to another 9 years in prison.